Sex-marked language differences : a linguistic analysis of lexicon and syntax in the female and male dialogue in the eight original plays of Lillian Hellman

Abstract:

A randomly-selected sample of 31,115 words taken from the eight original plays of Lillian Hellman was analyzed on the basis of female and male dialogue. Lexical classes--verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns--were examined by studying terms described by other researchers, especially Mary P. Hiatt, as belonging to generally "feminine" or "masculine" categories. In these classes, differences were statistically significant based on gender in two areas.Adjective figures that took into account type 1) of adjective, 2) of referent, and 3) of speaker showed statistical significance. This was true only for the "feminine" adjectives, especially as used by female speakers for female referents. Pronouns were distributed through the plays and used by the genders of speakers at significant levels of difference. A connection was evidenced between each gender of speaker and the gender of pronouns used, a strong relationship that also showed significance by play.Areas of syntax studied were emphasis, communication unit length, and clause structure. Markings of emphasis were significant by gender, female characters having both more instances and more marked words. Length evidenced no difference, likely because of requirements of the dramatic setting. The study of clause structure showed that female characters were given more whole sentences and more coordination at significant levels.Each area studied was analyzed for statistical significance. Hiatt's results were also statisticaly calculated and reported. Significance was based on chi-square calculations, at a level of p < .05 for rejecting null hypotheses. In addition to an axis based on gender, figures were also computed for specific plays.Applying the categories to individual plays and characters showed Hellman"s use of these strategies to define personality. For instance, with adjectives and emphasis, types more often given to female characters were also given in comparatively large number to themen in the Hubbard plays (The Little Foxes, and Another Part of the Forest), thereby marking them as unusual and adding to their characterization.